Contact: Emma Skilbred
Public Engagement Specialist
504-715-8083
OPCD Announces Pay Increase for Emergency Communication Specialists Following City Council 2024 Executive Budget Amendment Meeting
(Friday, December 1, 2023, New Orleans, LA) The Orleans Parish Communication District (OPCD) would like to thank Mayor LaToya Cantrell, Chief Administrative Officer Gilbert Montano, City Council President JP Morrell, Vice President Helena Moreno, City Council Budget Chair Joseph I. Giarrusso III, the entire city council and budget committee and all the administrative professionals who have contributed their time, talents and resources towards today’s win for our team.
Our Emergency Communication Specialists (ECS), who answer 9-1-1 calls and are the first first responders to emergencies, will receive a 28% pay increase as recommended in the Compensation Study commissioned by OPCD earlier this year. The budget ordinance passed today provides funding to increase ECS starting compensation from $34,000 to $44,000 annually.
“It is a momentous occasion that the proposed 28% pay increase was awarded in full,” says Interim Executive Director, Karl Fasold. “I don’t have the words to adequately express my gratitude and that of our team for the collaborative efforts of the Administration and City Council to secure this pay raise for our ‘heroes under the headset’. We watched the Council Meeting today and there was a palpable change following Council Vice President Moreno’s comments. The immediate upswing in morale was obvious!”
“Our team watched the New Orleans City Council Budget Hearing and have been awaiting this day,” says the Director of 9-1-1 Operations, Wendy Ervin. “To be able to pay our heroes what they deserve will have long-lasting effects on our organization, both internally and externally.”
“It is our mission at OPCD to get the right people, to the right place, at the right time, better than anybody else in the world,” stated Interim Executive Director Fasold. “To fulfill our mission, it is of utmost importance that we are fully staffed, with administrative efforts focused both on ECS recruitment and retention to get us there. It is no secret that competitive wages are paramount to those efforts, and we are more than pleased that the 2024 ECS wage will more accurately align with the demands of 911.”
We are continuing to recruit applicants for all open positions and will start a new class of ECS Recruits in early January. To apply, visit www.opcdla.gov/careers.
###